My thoughts on cherrypicking - newbies please read
Posted By: OldMT on 2008-11-26
In Reply to: If there are new people doing this, are you - sm
Cherrypicking isn't right for the obvious reasons. But another thing, and this is what I decided early on, it's best to just sit down and learn to do those hard dictators, especially if there's QA or somebody else around to help you. Because someday you may be in a position where you HAVE to type that dictator, either because it's assigned to you or it's a stat and you're the only one available. It's too late to say you can't do it, especially if you've been on the account for a long time and are expected to know the dictators by then. I don't ever want to be in that position. That's just my opinion.
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A must read for our profession...any thoughts?
http://www.medrecinst.com/pages/libArticle.asp?id=28
We must be more open-minded and willing to adapt. MQ actually may have the right idea.
This is an excerpt from what is, in my opinion, a reliable source:
In the US, transcription will morph over time, and ultimately, transcription as we know it now will be thought of as an archaic, cumbersome, expensive, inefficient, and inadequate part of the healthcare documentation process. How long will this take? Probably decades more, but within the next decade there will be increasing evidence of its decline.
The decline in medical transcription will not be seen immediately through dramatic changes in the numbers of MTs, or the money spent in the industry, or the number of reports transcribed. Rather, the initial evidence will be the increasing interest in and adoption of new technologies that offer direct, real-time, point-of-care documentation methods; this has already begun. The handwriting is on the wall, and anyone who has analyzed it will have to take notice: it is not speech recognition, but the opportunities that mobile health care brings to practitioners that will be the biggest threat to transcription. Although mobile health care is in its infancy, it seems clear that, in the future, practitioners will capture information at the point of care and largely without transcription.
At first, these changes will be enhanced by transcription, but more and more they will be facilitated by structured interactive dialogs, decision-support tools, speech recognition, and natural language processing, as well as XML-based processing tools. There will be no dramatic date on which history will look back and say, this is when transcription died. Rather, it will be a slow process. Some might call it an insidious process, but that implies intent, and I don’t believe the intent is any longer there, though it certainly was in the past.
cherrypicking
what company are you speaking of? kc1
Cherrypicking
You are correct about Cherrypicking. It should not be occurring. If you believe that there is a problem with Cherrypicking, you should contact your technical support person and tell them to change the settings for the "Q" button. If they don't fix the problem, you should be sure to contact eScription. They have a method to stop Cherrypicking.
Good luck!
cherrypicking
That is horrible advice. We don't all do it and it is the fastest way to lose respect of your employer and your fellow workers. You have to take the good with the bad and every good, seasoned Transcriptionist knows that.
cherrypicking
I do not think that cherrypickers can get away with this for a long time, because every report has a trail to see what happened with it.
cherrypicking
I need to vent. I work for a really nice company, have been with them for several years, and really like my work. Lately a couple of new people were hired, and it is obvious they are cherrypicking. Tough dictators get refused/sent back to pool. On our platform, we can tell when a job is sent back. If you are one of those people, why do you think you have the right to pick and choose your work and leave the crap for everyone else. it is only fair to take the jobs as they come. We will all get some good, some bad. Would you like the shoe on the other foot - you get stuck with all the crappy dictators? I am asking here, please do the work as it is assigned. Play fair, will ya? I have seen people post on this subject before but had never experienced it. Now I know why prior posters were so PO'ed about it. It kills the line count for the day, every day, while the new kid on the block is raking it in. Whoever you are, I hope the boss confronts you and assigns you all the junk for a while or fires your butt so those of us who have worked there for years can continue with the jobs we have loved for so long. You are ruining it for everyone else. Okay, vented. back to work. wonder what is in the pool now.
cherrypicking hurts EVERYONE sm
you are supposed to be part of a team! Do you even know or care what that means? As the other poster stated, SHAME ON YOU! 
Cherrypicking at end of shift
What about when you just have a little bit of time left on your shift and you want to shuffle through and pick up some short jobs instead of the 25-minute psych report or the long consult that will put you way over your shift?
Another fine cherrypicking day.
Man, would I love to go on all day about this company and the cherrypickers here. This is totally 100% unbelievable that they let people do this every single day. 
No cherrypicking allowed here, but....
I know some reports do get shot back into the pool now and then. Luckily for me, they're nearly always LONG reports by my favorite dictators (ESLs are my specialty), so I don't complain at all. However, the rule here, which is hard to enforce, is that any skipped jobs or cherrypicking is grounds for being severely chastised for the first offense and immediate termination for the second.
IMO, why not just type it and be done with it????  Doing that takes less time than anything else, and time is $.
I agree that it's cherrypicking. sm
I don't mean this to be harsh, but if you're going to be a Transcriptionist for a company instead of having your own accounts, you need to be willing to do ALL of the dictators. Why would it be fair for you to pass over the difficult authors, take just the easy ones, and leave the hard work for the others? What makes you think anyone else wants to do them either?
Question about cherrypicking...
I'm on a new account that uses the Lanier. I really think there has been some major cherrypicking going on the past 2 days, but I have no clue how. I'd like to ask my boss about this, but am afraid to stir the pot as I'm so new. However, this is very, very frustrating. I thought I'd start out and see if anyone knows if people can cherrypick such a system. If not, it is all in my head then.
Any advise would be appreciated.
Cherrypicking by proxy...sm
All good and well in a hospital setting: Everyone knows what work comes out, when it comes out, who has done what, etc. What about home MTs? I know for a fact that my account (a rather large one encompassing 2 or 3 hospitals and seldom getting the same dictator the same week) has predominantly good dictators for the Basic 4 and at the beginning (about 2 years ago since I started) made a pretty good line count. Now it seems my shift (late evening) has virtually 99-100% ESL dictators. Now some of these were just dictated, some were dictated 12 hours prior....but whoever gets to assign them assigns a high priority number rating so we can't skip over them. I don't mind doing my share of bad dictators as long as everyone does theirs, and if even ONE MT gets to reject a particular job or "cherry pick", EVERYONE should be able to do it. But I'm not going to be singled out to get all the crap dictation at the whim of the work router when I know this is only a small percentage of the work available on that account. I wonder who gets the good stuff?
They are not griping about just cherrypicking, the point of this
whole post was how can an MT who works for Softscript get that many lines when the rest of us had our SPACES TAKEN AWAY AND LINE COUNTS ARE FALLING, WITHOUT BEING TOLD WHEN IT WAS DONE. We are told on an almost daily basis that the "line count" server is down and will catch up. GUESS WHAT, IT NEVER DOES. Although, apparently it does for a select FEW, aka the positive posts on here.
It sounds like you need to look for another job. I do not tolerate cherrypicking at all. If a
company I'm working for is allowing it and I find out about it, I'm gone. I work too hard to put up with a services poor business habits.
Jane Harner
You are one paranoid woman (?), rather obsessing over cherrypicking.
Her post had not the slightest to do with cherrypicking, you have egg on your face, and you SHOULD apologize. Though I doubt you will, as you get to hide behind your anonymity. 
Why does it have to be cherrypicking? The person just asked a question?
x
that should be sympathize, man, my eyes are bad these days...also, about the cherrypicking...
how do people know that, if they are not doing it themselves...in my experience, those who complain the worst about that are usually doing it themselves...
that is my opinion.
my apologies...I agree with you on THAT part about cherrypicking...
had that happen first-hand my first year of transcription...supervisor took all normals, easy dictators, etc., all to score points with the Medical Director - constantly making everyone think she was some kind of wizard on the keyboard (haha, it is funny now, but all of us in the office knew exactly what she was doing...)
Okay, am I completely loopy, or was there a post about cherrypicking?
Just curious, because I responded, or so I thought, and now I do not see any mention of it...anyone know? Thanks!
I was referring to slamming the cherrypicking post
nm
Cherrypicking - such a cute description for theft.
cc
and let's not forget cherrypicking! That'll boost your lines way up nm
maybe you oughtta try cherrypicking too...force the co. to deal with bad dictators! nm
1
Cherrypicking didn't make our line rates less -
the lower line rates are what started people c-pickingin the first place, so they could make enough each week to live on. Back when I was paid by the hour (and lots more than I'm getting now per hour, I did whatever came along. But I'm sorry, I'm not gonna GIVE an employer a chunk of my change for the 'privilege' of doing a 40-minute report by a gum-chewing ESL with static on the line, partying nurses, or crying babies in the background, that I just plain can't understand, when I have the option to choose something that is at least transcribe-able.
It was rude in nature. 'Thanking' people for cherrypicking was uncalled for.
/
I have heard so many people rationalize cherrypicking and seen too many supervisors not deal with i
It's a scourge on this profession ... like the folks who gratefully accept absurdly dreadful line rates because -- "it's better than nothing"
It's why we're all making LESS than we did 10 years ago, 15 years ago ... made worse because that's even without adjusting for inflation ...
there a note on the company board from QA regarding cherrypicking and they mention "line padding&
This is a new one on me. I've heard of cherrypicking but what constitutes line padding? Isn't everybody typing what the doctor dictates? How can you possibly add extra????
In 12 years of MT'ing I've never re-read an entire chart. Edit/read as I type. nm
x
Yes, I read your post, and I just re-read it, and I've copied and pasted for you in case
you've forgotten your own words! Your post above is 100% different "flavor" to it, now all positive and cheery! Your first post was 100% doom and gloom every which way, including "raining on your parade", and "if you want to go forward"...God, sounds like she's talking about jumping into oncoming traffic! Here is your quote:
My first boss (the one who hired me as a new grad) gave me some words of wisdom that I haven't forgotten. She said that transcribing at home with small children NEVER works under any circumstance. Either the work will suffer or the parenting will suffer.
****
How can the word "NEVER" in caps be interpreted in any positive way? You took about 8 paragraphs to cover every aspect and completely dash this poor woman's dream. I'm not blind, I'm not talking about day care at all, I'm talking about the total negativity of your original post! You know exactly what I'm talking about, cause you added some sugar to your second version! And that's much nicer than the first!
newbies
I applaud your attitude towards mentoring (especially since I'm a student and crave that!). To hold employees that are worth having the employer would only benefit by training the way he/she wants the employee to work.
As a baby boomer, I think the majority of us will work well past the retirement age set forth by the powers that be. I don't see that my retirement funds will pay for me to live another third of my life unemployed. Not to mention, the need to feel productive that many of us have. MT is the answer, allowing many to work at home (or in our RV's - not that I'll get one, not my thing).
As far as education goes, some schools are most likely sub-par, in it for the money only. Some are developing, some are downright outstanding. However, even a student attending one of the 'lesser' schools might be worth mentoring. Perhaps they attend that school because of fund shortages (I know that's why I am), that does not mean the student is sub-par. Yes, I agree some are looking for an easy buck, but some are looking for a CAREER, not a dollar. I know that's my goal.
ok - I'm getting off my soapbox, and hoping someone someday will give me the chance to work and help others too, when I get enough experience!
Newbies
Good luck in a field where our pay goes down each year, and our business costs soar. I received an e-mail that offered to transcribe my overflow for 3 cents a line. How can we compete with that? It seems the doctors just care about cheap labor instead of quality work....
It isn't that most of us have anything against newbies. sm
Just as in any field, when people have trained and worked hard to get where they are, they expect to be rewarded. Forlorn hope. As newer people come in, they are eager to learn, willing to take less money while they train. That means those of us that have been at it so long (18 years here) have to sometimes cut our prices to compete for the jobs. I won't even mention the off-shoring. Eighteen years experience means little to a company that only asks for two years. We do get bitter, not necessarily at the new people, but at the situation we're in.
People in all professions find this. New people come into teaching making as much as people that have been there 15 years. In other professions, a long-timer is replaced by someone new who works for much less. Do you think there isn't bitterness over this? The list goes on.
We all feel cheated, even those of us making a decent living, like me. Yes, I can make $16 an hour, but have to buy my own equipment, software, insurance, pay employment taxes, income taxes, Medicare tax, internet, long distance, etc. I'm lucky if I really make $8 an hour. Not much above working at WalMart, when you look at it like that.
Don't take it personally, most of us understand being new. But the money was easier to make then, and the competition wasn't so stiff. We're sympathetic with you, but we're also worried about our families. Ten years from now, when you're fighting to make what you make today, and utilities have tripled in that time, maybe you'll understand better. Good luck.
newbies
It's because so many newbies want to work M-F, at their own chosen hours and want to make $50K a year to begin with. They think because they took a course, they know everything and have nothing to learn. They resent established MTs who learned on the job.
I'm from the days when MTs were hired because of their good spelling and typing skills. They trained us on the job. We had very few resources, about 5 good reference books to use, but we were able to get feedback from the doctors, who actually respected us and what we did for them.
Now, too many newbies think that an online course or a couple semesters at the local community college put them on the same level as an MT with 10+ years of experience. Not true. There is no substitute for experience.
To the newbies who think they are too good to work holidays and weekends, I just say, why on earth did you take a job in healthcare, which is 24/7 365 days a year, if you want a 9-5, M-F job? Go to work for an insurance company or an accounting firm.
If you can't raise your family and hold down a job at the same time, then quit and let someone else have the opportunity.
There are so many newbies who cannot get a job and would
probably take that and not think twice. Twenty years ago I was making 6 cpl/gross line.
The newbies always do.....
d
Newbies.......
I have been in this field for 17 years and on 'another board' I was ridiculed beyond reason for posting a problem I had with a vendor who advertised on that site. Little did I know I was a site where there were cliques present, you know like high school. HEY we were all new at one time or another and how do you lean if you don't ask questions? Compassion, patience and understanding goes a long way.
we were all newbies once...
so what's with the vets vs. newbies attitude that has taken over this thread?
Sheesh people - it doesn't matter how many years we've been doing this - we're all in the same boat here. Just because some of us have more experience than others, that doesn't mean we're any better or that our opinions are more important.
I have to take back what I said earlier about having not seen any nastiness here because now I have - and it's right here in this thread.
Newbies
Like you, I had a mentor in a former R.N. who started a small transcription company. I knew some medical terms but not much. I did have the advantage, however, of being a very fast typist at that point. But I had never worked with any type of dictation equipment. I started when I was 26 and more or less retired at the age of 67. To say that this profession is on life support is probably the most accurate and honest statement I've heard in a long time. I was able to work at home with young children and it was a God-send at that time. For years I worked full-time for a large group as a salaried employee plus worked several nights a week at a local hospital because they had new computerized equipment and I wanted to learn that. I still love the medical profession and all that it entails and am truly sorry that now all the bits and pieces stored in my brain won't be used any longer for transcription. I still try to read about medicine and get on this site frequently just to "keep up" but, again, the profession as we oldies knew it is dead in the water. My own family physician has already switched to EMR. In fact, he types his own notes as he sees the patient. He said the group could not afford to hire a transcriptionist. To put it mildly, transcription "ain't" what it used to be, that's for sure. So sad, really.
Newbies
Hi! Where does a newbie get started? I am working at a large local hospital in the Transcription Dept. and have been here a year. I transcribe 2 days and I do tech work. I just finished my internship and I have my MT certificate. :) I do not know where to start to find MT work as a newbie. Anyone have any advice? I am able to get 2 days transcribing at my current job but I want a second job transcribing. Any adivce is greatly appreciated! :) 
I think 100 may be a lot for brand new newbies. nm
nm
Message for newbies
Please go to www.careerbuilder.com. On the left hand side, enter into 'keyword' box, 'transcription work from home'. Do not enter a city or state or category. Now click on 'search'. There are several jobs her for transcriptionists with little experience. Some of them require that you live in a certain area. Many of them do not. When you call to inquire about these positions, make sure that it's not some sort of school thing that requires you to pay a fee. I hope this is helpful.
I think the newbies who are just getting into the business sm
need to hear the truth about this organization before they get taken in by them.
No, why do you ask? They are very good with newbies (nm)
a
Taking on newbies.
The company I worked for took on newbies who had completed an MT course or had experience in an associated field. They were hired on at a slightly lower rate. Some were raised up in about a month when they proved to be good transcriptionists, and went on to become excellent employees. Some realized very soon that they could not cut it, and usually quit on their own. They were given only as much work as they could complete, and only were let go if their quality was awful and they did not improve over a few weeks time. It can be done and is often very much worth the money and time spent.
I know of svl newbies who get offered what I get now with 13+ yrs in!! Sad..and
s
Well, I will tell you newbies make
the same as you! That's pretty sad considering how long you have been doing it, but I made that right out of school
Why do you accept low pay for newbies?
I said it below but trascribing is a higher skill than alphabetizing.
The low pay for new MTs is unacceptable. Even after the huge discussion I do not understand the idea that putting in your time = working for low wages. I don't expect a new MT to make as much as an experienced one but they still should earn more than a file clerk or housekeeper.
Hospitals pay for *months* of training when a floor nurse goes to the OR. The floor nurse requires one on one training in the OR. They also pay for months of training for OR/"scrub" and anesthesia techs before they are considered productive. I don't understand why a new MT should work for $9/hour when a file clerk earns more than that. I understand the file clerk is productive after a few hours but the hosptial pays training time for other positions.
I am honestly asking this. I do not want a MT strike, MTs to type their initials on screwed up reports or a MT sit in at the medical director's office. Why is it accepted in the transcription community for a new MT to earn less than anyone else in the doctor's office?
Most newbies ARE screwed.
I personally know two people, one of whom I mentored through her training program, who could get jobs in the field. No one would let them get a foot in the door. So I understand that frustration from that point of view, because these people have had to count their training money as a loss and go on to other things. I was so sad for them, and angry at the penny-pinching MT profession as it is today, which has few opportunities for in-house training for new people to learn what they need to know to succeed.
I think a lot of the bitterness you sense is really toward the big companies and the direction that the profession has taken. There is no place anymore for newbies to learn and "pay their dues" the way many of us had to do it.
I also agree with the poster below who said this is something that is in EVERY profession nowadays. My own father was pretty well forced into retirement, and yet they had the nerve to call him afterwards trying to pick his brain because his successor, half his age, couldn't figure something out. (He informed them of his consultant rate, take it or leave it.) As the other poster said, you find it in teaching and other professions, as well.
What concerns me about newbies is
that often they write these excited posts and reveal how tiny their working English vocabulary is. That's a terrible place to start out from. I try to be polite, but I do remember being a newbie for hospital work and how appalled the trainer was with the other MTs who had tiny English vocabularies. She about dropped her teeth because the first time I had to spell shotty adenopathy I spelled it right. I couldn't believe anybody would think "shoddy adenopathy" would make any sense. It's not logical.
How do you train people to THINK and be logical in their transcription? Those are things the person should bring to the table if they want to go into a career in the written word. Then you can build on that logic as you interpret MD slurring.
newbies beware
TO ALL NEWBIES, AND STAY AT HOME MOMS:>>DO NOT CONSIDER EVEN THINKING ABOUT THIS ON-POINT MTS.....THEY PREY ON PEOPLE OF INNOCENCE AND MORAL CHARACTER. THEY WILL NEVER PAY YOU. THERE ARE 34+ PEOPLE VICTIMIZED. THE STATE OF WISCONSIN, THE POLICE, AND VARIOUS INTERSTATE ATTORNEYS ARE ALL AWARE OF BAWNIE BARTLETT THE OWNER OF ON-POINT MTS. REMEMBER THE NAME, BAWNIE BARTLETT, ON-POINT MTS. UNLESS YOU LIKE BEING VICTIMIZED, AND TRANSCRIBING FOR FREE DO NOT THINK ABOUT WORKING FOR THIS CRAZY B----.
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